Lawmakers have directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to immediately suspend the sale of Polaris Bank Plc.
The House of Representatives ruled that the suspension should last until the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) had completed all procedures for an open, transparent, and competitive bid process.
The house stated that it should follow best practices and protocols for this kind of divestment.
This came after Henry Nwauba (APGA-Imo) won approval for a resolution on Wednesday during the plenary that was deemed to be of urgent public concern.
He claimed that a contemporary social media trend had brought the sale of Polaris Bank for N40 billion to the public’s attention.
He added that the divestment should be done most transparently following the required due process.
He said that this was necessary to avert public outcry and untoward reaction from critical stakeholders in the economy, foreign business partners, the banking community, depositors, and correspondent banks.
He added that it was crucial to avoid the shortcomings of a previous similar exercise undertaken in the past.
According to him, Polaris Bank was created as a result of the Skye Bank Plc rescue. Skye Bank Plc failed as a result of bad corporate governance and non-performing loans.
He said that this was the reason why over a trillion naira in public money was devoted to saving the bank.
He claimed that the proposed transaction was cloaked in secrecy and was unclear and that it had to be carried out with accountability and transparency to dispel rumors of corruption.
He claimed that the now-defunct Skye Bank was a bank of systemic importance with a sizable population of staff, clients, and other stakeholders.
Without a rescue, the bank, according to him, would have had a negative ripple impact on the economy and reputation worldwide.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the House, therefore, set up an ad hoc committee to review, within 20 days, the total outlay by the Federal Government of Nigeria in Polaris Bank and account for the entire financial input into the bank by the Federal Government.
The House said this should be done through CBN, NDIC, and AMCON to determine whether the conditions and terms of sale were likely to ensure a positive return on public funds thus far committed to the bank, whether as bailout funds or other investments.
The House then urged the committee to take any action necessary to ensure that the public funds committed to Polaris Bank were appropriately documented and accounted for.
